Abstract
In last decades the concept of asymmetric arrangement of the state administration, that endeavours to reflect historical, ethnic, religious, linguistic or geographic features of defined regions, has become popular in many countries. This study deals with one of the most discussed representatives of the above mentioned type of political-administrative division of a state, namely with the Spanish model of regionalism, anchored in legal and political system of the Kingdom of Spain by the Constitution of 1978.
Brief theoretical introduction ‒ classifying Spanish model into the typology of states according to its inner arrangement ‒ is followed by a description of historical development of the Iberian Peninsula. The emphasis is first of all on the position of regions in each described epoch, respectively, since it is here where the origins of current administrative division of Spain can be found.
In the crucial part of the study not just the Constitution of 1978, that enabled the creation of autonomous communities, is analysed from legal perspective, but also basic documents of these territorial units, i.e. the statutes of autonomy, based on which the degree of competencies of a given community can be determined. The study also pays attention to important political agreements that since 1980s have influenced the shape of Spanish regional state, giving it todayʼs form.
In its conclusion the study attempts to sum up the advantages and disadvantages of Spanish regionalism and to estimate its future development.